Marital Rape: The challenges in identifying and preventing in Albania

• Pages: 20-27

20

Vol. 9 No.1

May, 2023

Balkan Journal of Interdisciplinary Research

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

ISSN 2410-759X

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

Marital Rape: The challenges in identifying and preventing in Albania

Linert Lirëza

Faculty of Political Science and Law, University Aleksander Moisiu , Durrës, Albania

Abstract

Marital rape is a pervasive form of violence against women that occurs worldwide, including

in Albania. Despite its prevalence, marital rape is often overlooked or dismissed as a private

maer between spouses. This is particularly true in Albania, where social, cultural, and

legal factors can make it challenging to identify and prevent marital rape. One of the biggest

challenges in identifying marital rape in Albania is the lack of awareness and understanding

of the concept. The paper identify the forms of marital rape and women consequences.

Many people, including law enforcement ocials, still believe that a spouse cannot rape their

partner, as they assume that consent is automatically given within marriage. This aitude can

lead to underreporting and a lack of action taken against perpetrators, making it challenging

to prevent and address the issue. Preventing marital rape in Albania is also challenging due

to various social, cultural, and legal factors. Patriarchal aitudes and gender inequalities still

prevail in Albanian society, which often leads to women being treated as inferior to men.

Such aitudes can normalize and perpetuate violence against women, including marital rape.

Moreover, cultural and social norms that exist in Albania can also lead to underreporting,

as women may feel ashamed or afraid to speak out about their experiences. The paper aims

to explore the challenges of identifying and preventing marital rape in Albania and propose

potential solutions to address the issue.

Keywords: Marital Rape, challenges, Albania.

1. Introduction

Marriage is a pillar of humanity and plays a crucial role in the development of both

women and men in society. A woman’s role in a marriage has traditionally been

to provide for her husband’s physical, emotional, and sexual needs, as well as to

take care of the household and children. This kind of stigma has been created by the

society itself and men assume the role of dominance, sometimes taking it too far.

For centuries legislators and judges claimed that marital rape did not exist within

law and as a maer of public policy could not occur. That is, it was impossible for a

husband to rape his wife because they were “one” under the laws of God and man.

(Goodwin,2017) Only recently governments moved to prosecute husbands who

rape—precisely because marriage served as a robust armative defense. Rape in

marriage is a serious and prevalent form of violence against women. However, there

is considerable evidence that marital rape is still perceived as a lesser crime than

other forms of rape within our culture and some studies have found a signicant

number of participants still question whether it is possible to rape one’s wife

(Whatley, 2005; Kirkwood & Cecil, 2001). In a recent study of aitudes among college

students, Monson, Byrdand Langhinrichsen-Rohling (1996) found that marital rape

was perceived as less serious than rape perpetuated by a stranger and only 50% of